Biology and Geography
When I saw the movie Waterworld, I didn't much like the ending of the movie where Kevin Costner's character gets them to the island and then leaves. Someone older than me who watched it with me pointed out that he had gills and wasn't really a creature of the land, so it simply didn't work for him due to his biology having nothing to do with the social stuff.
How much he liked these people or whatever just wasn't really relevant.
They added iodine to salt in the US at some point because the Midwest, so far from the ocean and someplace people didn't eat a lot of sea food, was known as The Goiter Belt. Humans don't thrive when they can't get certain nutrients that are found predominantly in seafood and/or in the sea.
I used to joke that I was a mermaid -- that I couldn't breath because I was a fish out of water. I moved back to California while homeless to be near the sea because it's both established scientific fact that people with CF who surf do better and it's also my personal firsthand experience that I was healthier on the West Coast.
I react allergically to a lot of things but the only thing conventional medicine officially identified as an actual allergy is ragweed. A relatively narrow strip of land along the West Coast is also low rag weed, so parts of Washington state, Oregon and California are more tolerable to me than most of the rest of the US.
I once looked at a world map and ragweed seems to be everywhere, not just large parts of the US. I doubt I could escape that issue by moving to another country. I have fantasized about moving elsewhere because life in the US seems so challenging for me but that doesn't seem to be a likely solution for me.
I currently live in Coastal Washington. This is where I expect to stay for the foreseeable future.
Like Kevin Costner's character in Waterworld, that's largely dictated by biology. My body isn't well-suited to thrive in other places I have lived.
How much he liked these people or whatever just wasn't really relevant.
Though home to almost 40% of the U.S. population, coastal areas account for less than 10% of the total land in the contiguous United States.Humans seem to be coastal creatures. I suspect that's an optimal environment because of the salts and nutrients found in the oceans.
They added iodine to salt in the US at some point because the Midwest, so far from the ocean and someplace people didn't eat a lot of sea food, was known as The Goiter Belt. Humans don't thrive when they can't get certain nutrients that are found predominantly in seafood and/or in the sea.
I used to joke that I was a mermaid -- that I couldn't breath because I was a fish out of water. I moved back to California while homeless to be near the sea because it's both established scientific fact that people with CF who surf do better and it's also my personal firsthand experience that I was healthier on the West Coast.
I react allergically to a lot of things but the only thing conventional medicine officially identified as an actual allergy is ragweed. A relatively narrow strip of land along the West Coast is also low rag weed, so parts of Washington state, Oregon and California are more tolerable to me than most of the rest of the US.
I once looked at a world map and ragweed seems to be everywhere, not just large parts of the US. I doubt I could escape that issue by moving to another country. I have fantasized about moving elsewhere because life in the US seems so challenging for me but that doesn't seem to be a likely solution for me.
I currently live in Coastal Washington. This is where I expect to stay for the foreseeable future.
Like Kevin Costner's character in Waterworld, that's largely dictated by biology. My body isn't well-suited to thrive in other places I have lived.